Breonna Taylor: Trial Begins For Ex-Officer Charged In Raid

white former Kentucky police officer charged with wanton endangerment during the 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor

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The trial of a white former Kentucky police officer charged with wanton endangerment during the 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor began on Wednesday, casting a spotlight on another case in the United States that sparked a summer of protests against racial injustice two years ago.

Detective Brett Hankison, 45, whose stray bullets hit a neighbouring apartment in the city of Louisville during the botched execution of a search warrant in March 2020, was the only officer charged in the case.

Prosecutors said the bullets endangered Taylor’s neighbours — a couple and their child. Hankison is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, a low-level felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman was roused from bed when police kicked in the door of her apartment using a “no-knock” warrant. Police officers killed her when they returned fire after her boyfriend shot once, thinking intruders were entering the apartment.

Police responded by firing 32 rounds, hitting Taylor six times. Taylor bled to death on the floor of her apartment, the police did not render aid.

No one has been charged in her death. Read more.

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